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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28377834">The Four, Heirs</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomFanatic51/pseuds/FandomFanatic51'>FandomFanatic51</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drinny - Freeform, F/M, Harmione, Heirs, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Heirs, Magic Increases, Prophecies, Swordfighting, idk man, really idk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:28:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,387</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28377834</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomFanatic51/pseuds/FandomFanatic51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>So basically four Hogwarts students are revealed to be the Heirs of Hogwarts and now they have to put aside their differences and work together to defeat Voldemort. There may or may not be pining; you have been warned, and I have spoken.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Harry Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Prologue</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the Highlands of Scotland, there were some mysterious ruins. Ruins that nobody knew who built them or how they came to be that way. All that marked it was a rope spanning the perimeter, and several warning signs that heeded the danger that came from those ruins. But to a few very different people, they were not ruins at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In place of the crumbled keep was a magnificent castle, with towers and turrets and long, arching bridges. Its tallest peak reached up into the sky, like a stairway to heaven. Beyond the fortress was a beautiful lake, with dark waters and green kelp growing from the floor. Opposite to that, on the other side of the castle, was a large expanse of trees. At the tip of the tallest point, they stretched on for miles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inside this castle, a woman in her thirties sat in a great hall, with four long, worn, and wooden tables filling the space. The woman sat at the mid-right one, dressed all in yellow and black, looking at a glass ball that stood upright on a pedestal. The view she got from it was, to say the least, horrifying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Terror. Pain. Anger. All the negative emotions in the world could not add up to what was in this single vision. People ran for cover. Masked perpetrators fired spells at innocent people, some of which even the woman had never seen before. And in the midst of all of it, all the rage and fear and aggression were five people. One of them practically spewed out most of the frightening emotions, and he had no mask, but a single thin black cloak. His eyes were red and snakelike, and he was without a nose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other four radiated peace and hope. Their forms were blurred, and no sound could be heard coming from their voices, but together, acting as a whole, as one, they vanquished the monster standing before them in some long-forgotten spell. They seemed tired and ready to stop fighting, but the woman admired their persistence and determination to rid the world of that parasite.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The vision ended. The woman sat back, taking a deep breath as she processed what she just saw. After a moment, she abruptly stood up, pushing the bench she sat on back and grabbing the glass ball. She exited the hall, setting the endpoint of her escapade as her private chambers. Her long robes fluttered behind her as she strode down the corridors. When she came inside her room, the woman locked the door, intending to shut herself in there until she knew what every single piece of the vision meant.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>A few days later, another woman came rushing towards the door that led to the private chambers of the Seer. She was dressed in long, flowing robes that had blue and bronze embroidery on them. Her long, dark brown hair bounced up and down as she paced in front of the door. After a long while, she knocked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Helga?” she asked. “Helga, it's me- Rowena. Why have you shut yourself away? Have you had another vision?” the second woman-Rowena Ravenclaw- paused, waiting for an answer. “Please, just come out. We’re all worried about you. The staff, me, Godric. Heck, even </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sal’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> noticed something’s wrong!” From the other side of the door, Helga Hufflepuff could be heard taking a sharp intake of breath. After some scuffling and shuffling, the door opened to reveal a frazzled-looking witch. Her hair was sticking out in every direction as if she hadn’t slept in days, and her once tidy clothes were now wrinkled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you say Sal?” she asked, breathless. “As in Salazar? As in Salazar Slytherin? Your kidding.” Rowena sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look- normally, I wouldn’t say anything. No, I’m not kidding. He’s either been coming into the hall looking depressed and tired or not at all. We’re starting to worry about him, too.” Helga looked pained for a moment as if she were deciding whether or not to tell Rowena something. She bit her lip before waving her wand. Her messy appearance melted away and now she was in some new, but still, Hufflepuff colored robes. Her hair was now neat and tidy, and as she went back inside her chambers, Rowena smiled. Helga’s little obsession with Salazar was quite funny at times. Of course, she was one to talk, seeing as she was fascinated by a certain Gryffindor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Helga came out again, this time closing the door behind her as she and the blue-clad witch made their way to the Great Hall for lunch. In her hands was the same glass ball that she had seen the vision with. She fumbled around with it, as if nervous that the other founders would figure out some dark secret of hers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She took a deep breath as she entered the Hall, but what she saw shocked her to her core. The two boys stood on either side of the room, shouting curses at one another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t purge the world of Muggleborns, you daft idiot!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They are a disease, and the world needs to be cured! This is the only way to do that, you Mudblood lover!” Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Gryffindor, Slytherin. The argument seemed to be never-ending. Finally, the two witches that stood at the entrance had enough and decided to end it there before the two males could start using their wands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Enough!” they yelled together, the acoustics in the Hall amplifying their voices, as well as the corresponding Charm, could. Godric and Salazar stopped on their rampage and looked at the two, not having noticed they were there. Slytherin looked as if he were about to run up and embrace Helga, but she fixed him with a glare so fierce that even the most unafraid, daring Gryffindor-alumni Auror would quake in fear. She then fixed her stare on Godric, and he too quickly sat down across from his ‘best friend,’ although they were still sending daggers at one another. Helga and Rowena sat down next to Salazar and Godric, and Helga placed her glass ball and pedestal on the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, so that’s why you were, </span>
  <em>
    <span>absent</span>
  </em>
  <span>, for the last few days- ok, ok, I’ll stop talking!” The man in red robes started but stopped quickly when Rowena elbowed him in the gut. Taking a deep breath, Helga calmed herself and started talking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am sorry for worrying you three the past few days. I should have told somebody my whereabouts, but I had a vision and had to contemplate it before I forgot it. What I saw was </span>
  <em>
    <span>most concerning</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I was... horrified. I think it concerns all of us.” She looked at Slytherin. “You, especially. It was… there was…” Helga stopped, taking a shaky breath. Salazar looked over at her sympathizing and moved his hand to rub her back. She relaxed her shoulders, which had been tensed up while she was telling her story. With a long look at the man next to her, the woman in yellow continued.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There was fire, smoke, and people were running everywhere. I could </span>
  <em>
    <span>see</span>
  </em>
  <span> their magical signatures. They were all Muggleborns… There were people in masks, firing spells and curses that I’ve never seen, and in the middle of all of it, there were five people. One man had no mask, but he had a, uh, long, thin cloak that was black. His eyes were red and snakelike, and he had no nose and was pale as paper. The four other people were blurred, but they were all standing in front of the one man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Acting as one… </span>
  <em>
    <span>unit</span>
  </em>
  <span>, almost. They used an ancient spell that I’ve only heard once or twice. And it… it </span>
  <em>
    <span>decimated</span>
  </em>
  <span> him. They were more powerful than anybody I’ve ever seen.” Helga looked around at her friends, who were staring at her with shocked expressions on their faces. Taking the silence as them allowing her to keep going, she opened her mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think that it was in the far future. I think that the one man was trying to…” she paused as she looked at her long-time obsession. “I think he was trying to purge the world of Muggleborns. I think that the masked people were his followers. The four people who defeated them were blurred because </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> have to choose them. </span>
  <em>
    <span>We</span>
  </em>
  <span> have to decide who we think are the right people to defeat this man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The four founders sat for a second, taking everything in. Then Salazar abruptly sat up, pushing himself away from the table and striding furiously away. Helga looked helpless, as though she wanted to yell at him to come back, but she knew it was no use, seeing as this was the end culmination of everything that Salazar had worked towards.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They looked on as the man in green strode away from them, determined not to take place in this future. After a while, the other three decided that maybe they could just choose </span>
  <em>
    <span>for</span>
  </em>
  <span> their friend. Helga looked into the future, holding Rowena and Gryffindor’s hands tight as she brought them along. With that, they wandered throughout the centuries, until they came to a stop in 1938. There, in Hogwarts, they saw a boy who was everything that a Slytherin stood for. He was cunning, ambitious, and although they couldn’t see where he went when he grew up, they knew that he would make his way to the other ‘Heirs.’ They chose him, and then kept on looking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>1991. There, Gryffindor saw something he admired. A boy who had nothing, but gave everything. They had decided that in case something happened to the intended Heir, they should have a backup. So then Godric chose a boy who had the potential for greatness but was constantly in someone else’s shadow. Ravenclaw saw something she related to completely. A girl who was so busy studying that she didn’t know how to deal with friendships. Then she picked a boy who always felt the need to be at the top, and therefore he studied and studied and studied. Helga picked her backup to be a boy who thought he should’ve been in her house, but went to Gryffindor instead. 1992. Hufflepuff saw something she aspired to have. Trust, yes. Loyalty, yes, but also that fierceness to do whatever it takes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With that, the three founders were able to lay their heads back and relax, knowing that their part was done and now it was all up to these four people to do the right thing. They were so tired that they went straight to bed, Helga not even bothering to take her glass ball back to her room, saying that she’d “get it tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What they did not know, however, was that in the middle of the night, a certain recluse came up from bed and looked at who his friends had chosen. He chuckled at how spot-on their choices were. He disliked their idea of a true Slytherin, though. With great difficulty, he went through time and finally came to a certain year. There, he picked out a boy, who like him, was not given any choices, and when he was, he made the wrong one. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Please, let him make the right choice.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Salazar thought as he chose this boy. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He deserves it. He can make things right where I made them wrong. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Then, seeing as his friends had picked backups, he did too. Salazar picked out a boy who was the perfect mix between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Just in case he needed it, he bestowed on the boy his own ability to speak Parseltongue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He did not know that one of the most famous sorcerers of all time would later make a true prophecy about this, and he did not know that the people who they have chosen would read this prophecy, not knowing it was them.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Prophecy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ginny Weasley woke with a start. From the other side of the room, she could hear Hermione Granger tossing and turning as well. She looked around, a restless feeling filling her gut. Carefully, she trudged over to one of her best friends, shaking her ever so carefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hermione? ‘Mione, wake up!” Said girl rolled over, looking groggily at Ginny, who seemed wide awake and ready for an adventure. Hermione rubbed her eyes and muttered something along the lines of ‘bloody hell, how are you awake?’ although Ginny could have misunderstood. She laughed and pulled the sleepy girl out of her bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you like to come to the library with me?” Hermione looked at Ginny oddly. She never asked to go to the library. Why now, let alone in the middle of the night?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pardon me for swearing, and for asking this, but why are you wanting to go to the library… like… two in the morning?” Ginny merely shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. I just </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>like I have to, you know? Like, I woke up and I just had this urge to go there. It feels like something is </span>
  <em>
    <span>pulling</span>
  </em>
  <span> me there, like, literally.” Now that Ginny had pointed this out, Hermione, strangely enough, felt the same thing. It was like this string that wrapped around her soul, tugging and straining to go to a certain row, a certain shelf, a certain book, a certain page. And no matter how hard it pulled, Hermione knew that it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> going to break until she got there. Sighing, she grabbed her bathrobe and put it over her nightgown, sliding into her slippers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright. I’ll go. But only because I feel it too.” Again, under her breath, she muttered, “Harry and Ron are such bad influences. How have I put up with them for the past five years?”</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Harry Potter lay in bed, trying to resist the urge he had to go to the library. He was trying to figure out </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span> he wanted to go there. Surely this was some trick of Voldemort’s? The only problem was, the more he resisted, the more he could feel something pulling at him, pulling him towards the intended destination.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After what felt like forever, he groaned and sat up, rubbing his forehead to make sure that he wasn’t trodding into a trap. Nope, no sensitiveness there. Sighing, he got out of bed, pulling on his robe and slippers. He grabbed his invisibility cloak and draped it over his shoulders. He opened the common room door, quickly shutting it so that no one would wake up and question his sanity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as he set his sights on the library, the pulling instantly lessened, as if it were </span>
  <em>
    <span>pleased</span>
  </em>
  <span> that he was heeding its direction and decided to reward him. Harry went about the halls, knowing instinctively where to go and cursing mind tricks under his breath as he went. All was good until he bumped into a statue. He fell onto the ground, carefully avoiding hitting his head on the stone floor, although he lost some of the coverage of his cloak. Oddly enough, the statue didn’t clank or clunk as it fell. Instead, it made a similar sound of groaning and moaning.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Harry though. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Statues don’t groan.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He looked up from his spot on the floor to see a certain blond-headed ferret laying with his hand on his face, muttering something unintelligible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Malfoy?” said boy’s head snapped up to meet the emerald green eyes of his enemy. He glared at the scarred boy, wondering why the ‘Gryffindor Golden Git’ was wandering about this late at night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Potter</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Draco Malfoy spat. “Mind telling me what you’re doing moseying the corridors late at night?” Harry scoffed and shook his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you must know, I’m not entirely sure. I woke up a bit ago with this odd feeling to go to the library. I tried to ignore it, but this feeling kept getting stronger and stronger.” Malfoy’s eyes started to widen, but he almost instantly put his mask back on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, it’s nice to know that I have the same mental condition as the Savior himself,” he said scathingly. His eyes traveled farther down until he reached Harry’s waist. Or, more accurately, where Harry’s waist should’ve been. “You have an </span>
  <em>
    <span>actual</span>
  </em>
  <span> invisibility cloak?” Harry sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” he answered. “And unless you want to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, I suggest you get under it, seeing as we’re going to the same place, anyways.” Malfoy just smirked and got under. With that unusual encounter, the two rivals headed towards the place their souls were telling them to go.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Hermione and Ginny entered the unlocked library, softly closing the door behind them. Like they had read the book a thousand times, both Gryffindors went to a shelf in the far corner, just in front of the Restricted Section. The books there were all old and dusty, the girls noting that they probably hadn’t been read in years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hermione reached out, trusting her hand to know what to do, where to go, but when she reached for the chosen book, there was nothing but space. As soon as she and Ginny realized this, the strings on their souls moved, tugging in a different direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It led them to a plush red couch, where two boys sat, one brunette and one blonde. In their hands was an ancient book with a cracked leather spine and the title </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Prophecies Throughout the Centuries.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> It was flipped open to a page that read at the top “The Founders of Hogwarts as Foretold by Merlin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry? Malfoy?” Both boys jumped in their skin and turned around. Harry sighed when he realized who it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hermione. Ginny. What are you two doing here?” Ginny and Hermione stole a glance at each other, wary about their explanation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well… we’re looking for that book.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You lot felt the pull, too?” Malfoy deadpanned. Ginny glared at him, making him shut up, surprisingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, we did,” the redhead fumed. “Now, would you mind if we sat with you and read it?” Harry shook his head while covering Malfoy’s mouth to further prevent him from saying anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, we wouldn’t mind at all.” He pulled his hand back right before the blonde decided to bite him. The girls moved around the couch to sit on either side of the boys; Hermione next to Harry, Ginny next to a begrudging Malfoy. Deciding not to say anything silently, they turned to the text in Harry’s hands and started to read to themselves.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Four, there are</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Four, the Heirs.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The Heirs of the Founders</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Who once resided there.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They will come together</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In a time of great need</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To defeat the monster</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And finish the deed.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A loved one they will lose</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But the pain shan’t end there</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And Gryffindor more powerful</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This is the prophecy of the Founders’ Heirs.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <b>The great sorcerer Merlin later said that he did not know what the ‘deed’ was, although he said that the Heirs would have great power, both separate and together. They would have one separate ability, and all would be able to transform into a magical animagus. Any blocking jinxes placed on them would also be removed, although this would be quite painful, both physically and mentally. As a result of all of this, their raw magic will increase exponentially. Due to this prophecy being so out of date, most witches and wizards believe this to be a myth, a legend. Still, some believe that one day, the Heirs of the Founders will come to us and finish whatever their predecessors started. More information can be found on the next page.</b>
</p><p>
  <span>The four students sat there, on the plush red couch, dumbfounded. Eventually, Harry moved to the table of contents, where he seemed to be looking for a certain prophecy. When he found none, he sighed and sat back. Hermione, naturally, was the one to speak up first.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It's too early for this. I’m going back to bed.” With that, she got up and promptly walked out of the library. The others sighed and followed suit, agreeing with her.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>The next morning, when all the students at the prestigious school were sitting down for breakfast, Albus Dumbledore started his speech.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning, students. I would just like to say three things. One- I am pleased to say that everyone has finally gotten the pull.” Whispers. “Two- I must inform you that the Prophecy concerning the Founders’ Heirs is entirely true. We do not know who the Heirs are, although I have a suspicion. And three, to quote me- ‘Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!’” Sighs could be heard among the clapping and scraping of utensils against the plates and bowls.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry gave Hermione and Ginny an odd look. Surely they had been the only ones to feel the pull? From across the hall, Malfoy could be seen giving nobody, in particular, the same look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After breakfast, Harry caught up with Dumbledore, intending to ask him some questions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sir, at breakfast you said that… </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone</span>
  </em>
  <span> felt that pull?” Dumbledore stopped walking and turned to face the boy next to him, the sparkle that was usually in his eyes thoroughly diminished.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Harry. Anyone of the groups of four could turn out to be Heirs. I have my suspicions, of course. As do all the other staff members, although, some of them are albeit a bit prejudiced. I must ask you to tell very few about this. Preferably only the people you went with.” With that he walked away, leaving a shocked and confused Harry behind him. After standing there a moment, The Boy Who Lived took off towards the common room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After entering, he immediately sought out Hermione and Ginny. After telling them what happened, they both sat shock-still at this revelation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should we go tell Malfoy?” Ginny asked with a hopeful voice, thinking that no matter how big of a ferret he was, maybe he deserved to know this information. Hermione shook her head, the wild, frizzy curls bouncing around with it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Surely someone in Slytherin will tell him. We don’t need to waste a trip.” Sighing, the redhead sat back and went to her dormitory, saying something about going on a walk. After she left, Hermione swiveled her head to look back at Harry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What were you looking for in that book last night?” Harry paled slightly and avoided her gaze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing.” She raised her eyebrow accusingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? You seemed relieved when you didn’t find it.” He shook his head, wanting to avoid this conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it was nothing.” He pushed. Sighing, Hermione gave up and deduced that he wasn’t going to budge until he was ready. She too went to her dorm, a little sad that the person she had been pining for years didn’t trust her enough to talk to her about something that seemed important. Little did she know that the same boy was cursing himself under his breath for not sharing what he had been looking for the previous night on that destined meeting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just then, Ronald Weasley walked through the portrait door. He intended to go get some sweets from his trunk when Harry called him over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it, mate? Something bothering you?” Harry nodded his head, but then decided against it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When did you go to the library?” Ron recalled the strange event that had happened, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was about two weeks ago. It was me, Neville, Loony-Luna, and Parkinson. Quite anti-climactic if you ask me. I mean, how could any of us be an Heir?” Harry shrugged. “Anyways, when did you go?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Last night.” Ron sucked in a breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who was there?” Harry thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me, Hermione, your sister, and Malfoy. It was odd. Malfoy and I knocked each other over in the hall, I’m surprised it didn’t turn into a fistfight.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Heir of Hufflepuff</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A few weeks later, the meeting had been all but forgotten. The school was going normally; Hermione was going crazy about the mid-terms that were to take place the following week. Ron was slacking, as usual. It seemed it was going to be a perfectly normal week. That morning, the seventh and eighth year Gryffindors had Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Minerva McGonagall had been giving a lecture on how to transform one living being into another, although she seemed more tense than usual, considering that Voldemort was now out in the open. Every few minutes, she would pause and scan the students’ faces, as though expecting something to happen. Now that they thought about it, a lot of the students had seen the teachers being more on edge than usual as of late. Even Snape was temporarily forgetting what he was about to say; some were comparing him to Quirrel, though that would usually get some house points deducted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Transfiguration was going well when all of a sudden, Ginny fell over onto the floor from her desk and started screaming in pain. Everyone quickly stood up to see what was happening, and McGonagall quickly rushed over to the fallen girl, levitating her and saying that class was dismissed. As the teacher and the student hurried out of the classroom, some Hufflepuffs swore that they could see a transparent badger swimming through the air around the youngest Weasley.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>In the infirmary, Ginny was laid down on a bed, the sheets pulled up over her shaking form, and the curtains closed around her to make for privacy. Ron had come rushing in as soon as he had heard about his little sister. Madam Pomfrey had to sternly ask him to leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mrs. Weasley needs time to rest. She will be fine.” Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall was in a private meeting with Dumbledore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was it, Minerva?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A badger, Sir.” Dumbledore nodded, and even though he whispered the next words, they felt as heavy as a mountain, and it seemed like they echoed throughout the halls of the enormous castle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And so it has begun. The Heir of Helga Hufflepuff has been found.”</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>That afternoon, Ginny woke up, gasping for breath. As she opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded by white, and she was in a comfortable bed. She felt different, but she brushed it off as something that happened when you woke up after your body and mind being tormented by pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She heard some scuffling outside her curtain, and suddenly it was being pushed back to reveal the Hospital Wing. standing next to her bed was Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Ginerva. How are you feeling?” The headmaster questioned pleasantly. She looked around again, still feeling off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Odd,” she said. “Like I’m in someone else’s body.” Dumbledore looked pleased with her observation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Close, but not quite.” He conjured up a mirror, but the reflective side faced away from her. “But first, I’m afraid I have some news. That pain you felt in Transfiguration was your body adjusting to the Blocking Jinxes that were put on your body and mind in your First Year being erased.” Ginny looked at the man in front of her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you saying?” she asked warily. He sighed and motioned for Pomfrey to start examining her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are the Heir of Helga Hufflepuff.” Ginny paled and her mind started racing as she thought of all her family members and friends, going through them one by one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who was it?” she asked finally.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your brother, Charles.” Ginny turned an awful shade of green and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Her mouth quivered and she turned her head away. Her eyes blinked rapidly, trying to reduce the number of tears that were about to come spilling out of them. “His body has been found and will be taken to St. Mungo’s as soon as possible. As of right now, he is miraculously still alive, though barely and in a coma.” As soon as she heard the news, she exhaled a breath and her shoulders relaxed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” she said. “Why did you conjure the mirror?” Dumbledore sighed, and pulled a chair over, sitting down next to the clean white sheets of the hospital bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your body has just gotten rid of the Blocking Jinxes that was put on you by Tom Riddle in your First Year when you had that diary. That is why it was so painful; the longer you’ve had them, the more difficult and agonizing it is to get rid of them. As a result, your body and facial features look slightly different than yesterday.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh…” With that, Dumbledore slowly turned the mirror around.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hair that used to constantly get in her face was now situated comfortably on her back, and her jaw and cheekbones had sharpened ever so slightly. When she stood up, she was an inch taller and had a few more curves to her previously straight body, though not a lot, seeing as she was only 15.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh… wow.” She was shocked. An idea popped into her head like that Muggle ‘bubble-gum,’ and she quickly turned to Professor Dumbledore, her fiery red hair whipping around to follow her head. Dumbledore answered her question about how she would explain this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“With the truth. You will be revealed as the Heir of Hufflepuff to the Wizarding World, although since, hopefully, either no one or a couple trusted people know who went with you that night, no one will know who the other three Heirs are.” She sat back down and sighed. After a moment, she looked at Dumbledore, who got her message and stood up to leave. Ginny lay back on the bed, whilst the headmaster stopped to talk to Madam Pomfrey outside the door. A few minutes later, the Healer rushed up to her patient and told her that she would be free to leave in a couple of hours. Nodding her thanks, Ginny sat back and prepared herself for the bombardment about to come.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Word had gotten out that Ginny Weasley was the Heir of Helga Hufflepuff. Around every corner of the school, excited chattering could be heard, all conversations based on the girl who would supposedly and hopefully defeat Voldemort. Ron had been shocked, to say the least, but he was allowed entry to see his sister before all others. He came out surprised but happy, to say the least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a small gathering outside the Hospital Wing that day. From the other side, talking could be heard between Ginny and Madam Pomfrey. Students conversed in hushed whispers, and every once in a while they would all look at the locked doors, wondering when she would come out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Footsteps. Whispers. Silence. Ginny could be heard pacing around in the room opposite, muttering under her breath. More silence, and the students all heard their breath. The doors creaked and opened very slowly. Out walked the new and improved Ginny Weasley, the Heir of Hufflepuff.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Most students gasped when they saw her, others ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed.’ The majority of the people at Hogwarts could easily say that she was something nice to look at, but now that had been amplified, and she knew it. But while she looked a little different, the air around her was still the same.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ginny smiled hesitantly and started to push her way through the small gathering, not a fan of all the attention she was getting. A slight blush rose to her cheeks as she started getting questions. Soon, it all became a bit overwhelming, and she rushed off to nowhere in particular.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, she came to stop in an unidentified corridor, where she leaned against the wall and sat down, pulling her legs up and hugging her knees. Ginny rested her head on her hands, and finally, let out the loose tears that had been threatening to spill since she found out. For hours it seemed like she cried, silently hoping and praying that Charlie would be alright and that she would be able to live up to people’s expectations. The hall was silent, except for the occasional hiccup.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Until it wasn’t. She looked up, expecting a friend or an acquaintance. But certainly not an enemy, giving a small, hesitant smile as he held his hand out for her to take. Certainly not the boy she had liked since the beginning of time, with his light blonde hair surprisingly not slicked back for once. But, seeing an opportunity, she took it. And his hand.</span>
</p>
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